Religion News: Can you name their religions?

Thursday

Jul 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 28, 2011 at 5:06 PM

Click the link below for the weekly Religion News with a recent survey that says many Americans can't identify President Obama's or Mitt Romney's religion, “Growing Up Amish” by Ira Wagler and more. Or check out related items.

A new study finds that only 4-in-10 Americans correctly identify Mitt Romney as Mormon, while 46 percent say they do not know Romney's religious beliefs and 10 percent incorrectly identify him as a Protestant or Catholic.

The survey, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, also finds that the public continues to have difficulty correctly identifying President Obama's faith. Only 38 percent of Americans correctly identify his faith as Christian, while 18 percent continue to wrongly identify him as Muslim and fully 4-in-10 say they don't know what his religion is.

More findings:

- A majority (56 percent) of the public says it is very important or somewhat important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs regardless of whether those beliefs are the same as their own.

- About 71 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of members of the tea party say it is somewhat or very important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs, compared with 51 percent of Democrats.

- Americans who identify with the tea party are more likely than Republicans to say it is very important for a candidate to have strong religious beliefs (46 percent to 38 percent).

- Majorities of every religious group say it is important that a candidate for president have strong religious beliefs, including white evangelicals (73 percent), minority Christians (74 percent), white mainline Protestants (57 percent) and Catholics (57 percent).

Week in Religion

- July 26, 1603, James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I of England. He then “authorized” an English translation of the Scriptures, first published in 1611 and known since as the King James Bible.

- July 27, 1861, birth of Cyrus H. Nusbaum, an American Methodist clergyman who penned the hymn, “Would You Live for Jesus and Be Always Pure and Good?”

- July 28, 1889, the first Divine Liturgy, or worship service, of the Armenian Church in America was celebrated in Worcester, Mass. It was led by Rev. Hovsep Sarajian, himself the first Armenian clergyman to come to America.

-- William D. Blake, Almanac of the Christian Church

Survey Says

Among Christians in the United States, 46 percent consider themselves an American first and 46 percent consider themselves a Christian first.

-- Pew Research Center

Good Book?

“Growing Up Amish” by Ira Wagler

One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 a.m., left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Wagler paints a vivid portrait of Amish life: his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16 and his ultimate decision to leave the Amish Church for good at age 26. This is a coming-of-age true story of one man’s quest to discover who he is and where he belongs.

-- Tyndale House Publishers

Quote of the week

“Yes, I am (a Hindu). I’m also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist and a Jew.” – Mohandas Gandhi

The Word

ablution: The practice of ritual washing in a religious rite to cleanse a person of sin or disease, to purify or to signify humility or service to others. In Christianity, baptism and foot-washing are both forms of ablution. In liturgical churches, ablution can refer to purifying fingers or vessels related to the Eucharist. In Islam, ablution is ritual washing, known as wudu, before prayer. In Judaism, immersion in a mikvah is a form of ablution.

-- religionstylebook.com

Religion Around the World

Religious makeup of France

Roman Catholic: 83-88 percent

Protestant: 2 percent

Jewish: 1 percent

Muslim: 5-10 percent

Unaffiliated: 4 percent

- CIA Factbook

GateHouse News Service

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